


Azumanga Anonymous

by orphan_account



Category: Azumanga Daioh
Genre: F/F, Fluff, silly stuff, these are from 2014 I think so forgive me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-07
Updated: 2017-08-08
Packaged: 2018-12-12 14:18:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 30
Words: 18,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11738793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Drabbles! Drabbles for everyone! You get a drabble! And you get a drabble!





	1. Yukamo versus The Spider

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mzhlf](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mzhlf/gifts).



> Actually these drabbles are all for Lin :/

Yukari let out an agitated sigh. “We’re going to miss the bell with how _slow_ you’re going.” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the road ahead of them.

“We wouldn’t be running late if _someone_ could wake up on time _like an adult_.” Nyamo retorted. Her knuckles turned white from gripping the steering wheel harshly. “Honestly, do I have to wake you up every morning?”

“I wouldn’t mind.” Yukari grinned at her. She watched her friend scowl and she laughed.

Some days, it was too easy to tease Minamo about their relationship. The eccentric English teacher reached over to put a hand on Minamo’s knee affectionately.

“Get your hand off me.”

“Geez, Nyamo. You don’t have to-“

She was interrupted by Minamo screaming to the high heavens, “KAMISAMA.”

Yukari flinched away from her lover and put a hand to her head.

“What the-“

“T-There’s a sp-spider on the-the windshield!”

Her heart might have stopped for a couple moments. Yukari pushed against her seat, trying to get as far as possible from the dashboard. “Shit! Where?”

And then she saw it. The creepy eight-legged bug was about the size of the pad of her thumb and scampering on the windshield in front of Minamo.

The solution was obvious.

“Nyamo! Turn on the wipers!”

The PE teacher, looking sickly pale, nodded numbly and hit the button.

The wiper passed harmlessly over the spider.

They cursed in unison. “IT’S INSIDE.”

This was bad, Yukari realized. If there was anything her brave Minamo was afraid of, it was spiders.

She kept her eyes glued to the spider and put a calming hand on her lover’s thigh. Minamo was trying to focus on driving, but it wasn’t working. The cars around her had no idea that she was a time bomb. She was speeding slightly and hugging the right line.

Minamo couldn’t look past the spider to see the road. After a couple seconds of tense silence, the tomboy whined. “Yukari! Kill it!”

“It’s on your side!”

“Dammit Yukari! Kill it!”

“With what?” Yukari hissed, “My notes? The back of my hand?”

“With your shoe.” Minamo growled.

Yukari looked stuck by that idea. “Oh yeah.”

The spider was still crawling everywhere. It would get close to the dashboard and Minamo would whine. It would move up to the top of the windshield and Minamo was sure she was on the verge of cardiac arrest.

Meanwhile, Yukari was wrestling to get her shoe off.

“Do you think crashing into a telephone pole would kill it?”

And it was sounding like a plausible plan of action to the PE teacher. Yukari took the threat seriously and finally managed to slip her shoe off.

Minamo looked close to tears as the spider continued to roam the glass without a care in the world.

Hesitantly, Yukari unbuckled her seatbelt.

Minamo heard the familiar ‘click’ and felt a new panic rise. “Yukari! Don’t unbuckle! We could crash any minute!”

And it really was a wonder that they hadn’t yet. Traffic was moving steadily, which meant that cars were weaving in and out of lanes.

“Shut up Nyamo!” Yukari knew exactly what she was risking. She folded her legs under herself and sat up, “I’m trying to kill this damned spider!”

It honestly wasn’t a good idea though. A taxi cut them off at the last minute and Minamo had to slam on the breaks.

Yukari’s side flew into the dashboard. She managed to avoid hitting her head barely. “God damn.”

“Yukari!”

“Okay, nevermind.” She held her side tenderly and sat back down.

“Just buckle up please…” Minamo sucked in a breath. “We’re almost to school anyway.”

* * *

Kagura and Yomi were out in front of the school, enjoying the cool air and waiting for Tomo to get there. Yomi had taken a seat on the bench, while Kagura stood behind her and played with her long hair. She had just said something to make Yomi blush when a car sped into the parking lot.

“Hey, isn’t that Miss Kurasawa’s car?” Kagura asked.

They watched the familiar blue car fly into a parking spot crookedly and stop on a dime as soon as it was in the line.

“Hey, I think you’re right.”

The driver’s side door was thrown open and Minamo jumped out, yelling for Yukari. The two girls watched bewildered as Yukari quickly exited the passenger side and hopped on one foot to her fellow teacher’s aide.

“What the hell?”

The two teachers were screaming. Yukari was halfway in the car, cursing something’s mother and beating the snot out of whatever was on the windshield. Repeated slapping filled the air. Minamo had her hands clasped together against her chest and was worriedly peeking into the car.

“Uh…” Yomi glanced over her shoulder to look at Kagura, who shrugged.

Yukari gave a cry of success and relief. Minamo opened the back seat door and retrieved some paper towels for her friend. They watched their homeroom teacher reach to the dashboard. Like the paper towels in her hand were on fire, she ran to the nearest trash can. After disposing of the offending trash, she took a deep breath.

They turned their attention back to Minamo as soon as Yukari started crying. It was too uncomfortable to watch. Their PE teacher was beating Yukari’s shoe against the pavement and then wiping the sole along the small patch of grass next to her car.

Yukari hobbled over to her friend, who took her into her arms. She managed to stop Yukari’s tears.

Yomi and Kagura were at a loss for words.

They watched Yukari pull away to put her shoe back on. She swiped the back of her hand against her eyes, clearing her face of any remaining tears. Minamo kept a soothing hand on her back and led them into school.

Both teachers stopped in their tracks when they noticed their two students looking at them like they were insane. They had witnessed the whole thing…

Instead of explaining themselves, the two teachers passed by without a word. Yomi couldn’t help but think they looked like they had just been to war.

As soon as Yukari and Minamo were out of hearing range, Kagura asked “I wonder what that was about.”

Then they heard Tomo yelling from the street. Kagura waved and her girlfriend waved back. She was yelling but they couldn’t make out what she was saying.

“Told you numbnuts wouldn’t be late.”

Yomi stood and adjusted her glasses. “Well she almost was and you haven’t won the bet yet.”

“I’m going to win easily.” Kagura put her arm down and looked up at Yomi, “She’ll tackle you with a hug and-“

Tomo zoomed past them, yelling “Dumbasses! We’re late for class!”

The bell rang, making Kagura and Yomi race to class.


	2. Tomo and Kagura versus Homework

“Kagura!” Tomo whined, falling sideways against her friend. The other teen didn’t even budge, “I don’t understand!”

The athletic teen scratched her head angrily. Glaring at the problems in front of her, she growled “Me either! Just do your half of the work!”

Tomo groaned into Kagura’s shoulder. “I’m stuck though!”

“Why do you think I can figure it out?” She sighed, “Lemme see it.”

The hyper teen passed her textbook over and nuzzled the side of her face against her friend’s arm. She then caught a glimpse of Kagura’s notes. Raising an eyebrow, she looked closer.

“This is wrong.” They said at the same time.

Tomo nodded. Her eyes narrowed as she suggested, “We should switch!”

The two switched problems. Tomo flew through the examples, actually understanding this part of the homework. Meanwhile, Kagura felt like a genius as she confidently scribbled down the answers. Distractedly, she wondered if this was how Chiyo-chan felt all the time.

Not even ten minutes later, Kagura threw down her pencil.

“Ha! That wasn’t too bad!” She stretched her arms above her head and yawned. She turned to look at her friend, who was passed out on the floor beside her. “Hey!”

“Oh? You’re done?” Tomo sighed and rolled onto her side. Her hands were tucked under her head. “About time.”

Kagura pouted. “Am I that slow?”

Tomo nodded into the carpet, not even cracking her eyes open.

“Well whatever.” She fell back and exhaled peacefully, “Nap time?”

“Nap time.”


	3. Picnic with Chiyo!

Chiyo waited patiently on the bridge in the park. The picnic basket she had packed everyone’s lunch in sat beside her feet. The young genius stared out at the small lake and smiled at how beautiful the sight was. A clear blue sky reflected in the water and tall buildings sat in the background. She reflected on how spring had settled in quickly, leaving the city in a serene state. The lovely weather was one reason she had decided to gather everyone for lunch…

Her alterative motive for asking her friends to hang out was that she was lonely. Her mother was away for a conference in Switzerland and her father was flown out to Fukuoka for an important surgery. She wasn’t left alone often, so it felt scary to be by herself for another day.

Luckily, her friends had all agreed to meet up. They were the best…

“Yo! Chiyo!”

The girl turned to see Kagura running across the bridge. She stopped just short of her friend and smiled.

“Am I the first one here?” She sounded surprised.

“Yes, the others should be here soon.” Chiyo grinned at the athletic teen.

Kagura nodded, putting her hands on her hips. “I’ve actually been meaning to ask you something-“

“Chiyooooo!” Both turned to see Tomo running as fast as she could towards them. In the distance, Yomi could be seen calmly walking in their direction. Then the hyper teen caught sight of Kagura and grinned evilly. She sped up, arms pumping furiously. Even from across the bridge, Kagura could tell that Tomo was going to pounce on her.

“KAGURA!”

“DON’T-“ Kagura saw that no matter what she said, Tomo would have her way. The athletic teen turned on her heel and ran away from Tomo. She got as far as the second tree on the small island past the bridge before she was tackled to the ground.

They rolled for a short distance before coming to a stop. Tomo had her arms tightly around her victim, who was lying on top of her. The athletic teen tried to wrestle out of her grasp and Tomo relented after a minute. Kagura got off her friend and they both sat up, laughing at themselves.

“Dammit Tomo!” Kagura yelled, shoving her friend but grinning all the same.

“I can’t believe I caught you!” Tomo giggled as she stood up. She brushed herself off before offering her friend a hand to help her up.

“I let you!” She grinned and reached up at accept her hand.

Kagura laughed, “Thanks.”

“No biggie,” Tomo said with a shrug.

They started walking back to Chiyo and Yomi. They fell in step beside each other and Kagura put her hands behind her neck casually.

“So how did your swim meet go yesterday?”

Kagura shrugged, “We came in second, like always.”

“Who did you compete against anyway?”

The athletic teen launched into a statistic based evaluation of their rival team and why, no matter how much she trains, they couldn’t beat them simply because they have so many good athletes. She explained that there must be steroids in their pool water and how, not only does it absorb into their skin, but they must drink it too.

Tomo half listened, getting lost in some swimming terminology. But she nodded all the same and offered that maybe the other team was raised by mermaids in Australia. They conspired good-naturedly.

“Tomo-chan!” Chiyo chided, interrupting their banter.

“What?” Tomo asked. They stopped in front of their friends.

“You two look like a wreck,” Yomi commented, glasses flashing dangerously in the sun.

Both teens looked down at their clothes. While there was a bit of dirt on them and a couple grass stains, probably the worst thing was the hole in Tomo’s jeans right at her knee.

The hyper teen scoffed, “She was trying to run away, what was I supposed to do?”

Chiyo laughed while Yomi facepalmed. Then the small genius spotted Sakaki arriving.

“Hello Miss Sakaki!”

The tallest teen waved, “Hello everyone.”

“Hey Sakaki… Did another cat bite you?” Kagura asked, pointing to the bandages on her hand.

Sakaki blushed and nodded.

“Maybe you shouldn’t try to pet cats anymore…” Yomi offered hesitantly.

“But…”

Chiyo almost laughed at the distraught look on Sakaki’s face.

Yomi nodded towards the end of the bridge, “Looks like Osaka is finally here.”

Everyone turned to see the Osakan strolling towards them. They all marveled at how elegant she looked in her sundress; of course the elegant air around her faltered when she greeted them with a spacey “Hey.”

“I nearly got lost.” She admitted in her heavy accent.

“Miss Osaka, I told you the directions three times!” Chiyo pouted.

Her friend nodded, “But I had no idea which streets you were going on about…”

Tomo decided to change the subject, “Is Kaorin coming?”

“She had to visit family this weekend.” Chiyo said and then looked up at Sakaki, “She said to tell you she was sorry she couldn’t make it.”

Sakaki raised an eyebrow but didn’t respond.

“So, Chiyo-chan. What did you bring for lunch?” Yomi asked nodding towards the picnic basket.

“Oh!” The younger girl perked up, “Let’s go find a place to sit, I’ve got an assortment of food. I… actually cooked all night. I couldn’t sleep.”

All of them were stricken by how adorable Chiyo was. Sakaki picked up the picnic basket for the smallest girl and waited patiently for her to lead them to a good spot.

“Let’s go sit by the lake,” The genius suggested, pointing towards the clearing by the lakeshore a short walk away.

“Yeah, the lake.” Osaka mimicked.

The group stopped just in the shade of a large dogwood tree. They sat in a semi-circle, eager to experience their friend’s cooking again.

“I didn’t know what everyone would like… I made curry, not too spicy.” Yomi grinned at the pleased smile on Osaka’s face, “I packed several different bento-“

“Is that a dog?!” Kagura interrupted, putting a hand up to shield her eyes from the sun as she looked across the park. There was a huge animal running around with a small child. Everyone looked and gasped at the size of the supposed dog. Sakaki was already on her feet.

“That’s way too big to be a dog,” Tomo retorted, “Maybe its part wolf.”

Chiyo, the voice of reason, said. “It looks like a great dane.” Sakaki nodded in agreement as she sat back down.

“I’m gonna go ask.”

And Tomo took off towards the animal with Kagura right on her heels, “Hey wait! I wanna know!”

Everyone looked at Osaka, expecting her to run after them. She merely continued to stare at the potato chip in her hand.

Chiyo giggled at the spacey teen. She then noticed her silent friend. Sakaki was resting back on her hands, head tilted up in the sky. There was an untouchable amount of joy in her eyes and an amused smirk on her face.

“That cloud looks like a kitty.” She commented quietly.

Chiyo, Yomi and Osaka looked up at the bright blue sky. Osaka lost her balance and fell all the way to her back.

“Woah.” They all ‘ooh’ed at the kitty shaped cloud together.

“Chiyo-chan, this curry is amazing…” Yomi smiled proudly at the younger girl.

The child grinned, “Thank you, Miss Yomi!”

“It was a great dane.” Tomo grumbled, “I wanted it to be a bear or at least a wolf.”

Kagura slapped a hand on her shoulder, “Maybe next time.”

Everyone laughed at the depressed look on the hyperactive teen’s face.

Listening to her friends laugh Chiyo was struck with how lucky she was to have been able to meet them. Her grin grew tenfold and she hoped they’d always be able to be this close.


	4. Yukari versus Tomo and Kagura

Kagura sat bored in class, fighting to keep her eyes open. She had her head propped up in a hand while she inwardly raged. She had never hated the class shuffle as much as she did now. Out of all the friends that she had made last year, none of them had landed in Miss Yukari’s class with her. Only two girls from the swim team were here, but they sat in the very back of class.

She sighed and tried to pay attention to the class. Kagura couldn’t focus like she had been able to in Miss Kurosawa’s class. Maybe it was because Miss Yukari was even crazier than the rumors claimed. Or the fact that Kagura couldn’t take her seriously.

The athletic teen blinked rapidly hoping that would keep her awake. She was disappointed when her eyelids felt even heavier than before. Finally accepting that she was fighting a losing battle, her eyes fell close. Yukari’s annoyingly loud voice began to fade out.

Then the world came crashing back when a piece of chalk bounced off her desk and knocked her in the head. She nearly fell to the floor from surprise.

“Kagura! Stay awake!”

The tan teen straightened in her seat, “Yes ma’am!”

From the other side of the room, Tomo snickered. Damn wildcat was even worse than herself about falling asleep in class. She had no right to laugh!

Kagura growled and snatched the chalk that was about to roll off her desk. She flung the chalk at Tomo, “Shut it! Dumbass hyper tomboy!”

_(“Hey! I’m the only one who can throw chalk!”)_

“What did you just call me, gill brains!?”

“Loudmouth idiot!” Kagura stood from her seat, hands clenched at her side.

_(“Kids, settle down!”)_

“Big-boobed moron!” Tomo was on her feet as well, glaring at her agitated rival.

_(“Seriously, settle down!”)_

“Unoriginal imbecile!”

_(“Don’t make me throw more chalk!”)_

“You couldn’t even spell imbecile!”

(“What in the heck?” Osaka lightly smacked Yomi’s arm with the back of her hand.)

“Neither could you!”

(“This is the third time this week,” Yomi replied with a sigh.)

“So!”

“Dammit, Tomo! Kagura! Asses in chairs, NOW!”

The two teens glared at each other for ten tense seconds before huffing at the same time. They sat back down, both completely frustrated.

“Tomo!” Yukari pointed at the hyper teen, “You’re making me regret keeping you in this class.”

Kagura smirked, suddenly liking her new teacher a little more. She glanced at Tomo from the corner of her eye, the smug grin fell off her face. She looked over to watch the teen force a smile. Tomo kept her head down despite how nonchalant she acted.

Even when Yukari had gone back to teaching, Kagura studied the girl on the other side of the room. The swimmer could practically feel sadness radiate from her. She wondered what Tomo’s story was…

The hyper teen met her eyes and both looked away from each other quickly. Kagura fought off a blush from being caught. She focused on the board for all of a minute until curiosity got the best of her. She turned her head and they regarded each other. Hesitantly she smiled.

But then she remembered that she was supposed to be mad at the dumbass. Kagura frowned, returning her attention to the board. Still, she couldn’t get the image of Tomo wearing that sad smile out of her mind. How defeated her eyes looked…

Kagura inwardly sighed and decided she’d try to be nice to her. Well, nice might be too big a step. Civil. She’d try to be civil first and then work her way up. If Tomo didn’t get on her last nerve before then…


	5. Finding Nyamo

Minamo sighed as she held the door open. Yukari leisurely strolled out with her arms crossed behind her head in a stretch. It was almost like they were exiting a café instead of a four star restaurant…

“See, that was a good idea, right?” Yukari grinned. She let out a loud exhale when she dropped her arms back towards her side. “Totally worth it.”

“You didn’t pay for it…” Minamo mumbled under her breath.

“What was that?” Yukari’s tone slightly accusing.

Minamo shook her head, “Nothing, nothing. The food _was_ delicious.”

The eccentric woman patted her stomach, “Oh yeah,”

Before Minamo could ask what they should do for the remainder of their date night, a man bumped into her. She stumbled, but his arms shot out to grasp her shoulder and steady her. Glancing up at the man to say an apology, her heart stopped.

“Chère! Ça va! J’aime votre robe.” He took a moment to look her up and down. “Vouz êtes belle.”

Yukari huffed at Minamo’s glassy eyes and slacked jaw. _French! Why French?_

“Allons faire une promenade dans le parc, nous pouvons bavarder.”

Not even sparing a glance at the quietly fuming Yukari, the French teacher took Minamo by the hand. “Ce soir, je n'oublierai pas.”

The man led Minamo away from the restaurant, still babbling in French. Yukari facepalmed at her still amazed partner. _Seriously?_

Yukari just wanted to smack the man. _What the hell is his name anyway?_ Pinching the bridge of her nose, she finally was able to center her thoughts on _not_ beating the man within an inch of his life. They had already disappeared.

“Shit!”

She began walking in the direction he had pulled Minamo away. She was scanning the crowd, hoping that somehow she’d be able to spot them. Even walking on her tip-toes she couldn’t see above the multitude of people. Quickening her pace, she mumbled profanities under her breath as people refused to let her through.

There! The same color shirt Minamo was wearing! Yukari half jogged to the corner of the street. Cars zoomed past, but all she could focus on was the spot of blue turning another corner and out of sight. Just as she was contemplating playing real life Frogger, the pedestrian crossing light lit up.

She raced across the street and down the sidewalk. Then she remembered something that stopped her in her tracks. At dinner, hadn’t Minamo been wearing that green v-neck instead of the blue blouse? Yukari wanted to slam her head into the building beside her.

“DAMMIT!” She pounded her fist against the wall. Frustration levels having reached maximum.

“Miss Yukari? What ‘n tha heck?”

The eccentric teacher paused her tantrum at the familiar voice. Let’s be honest, accent.

“Osaka?” She turned to regard one of her favorite students. “Small world.”

“Ah’ll say.” The Osakan girl tilted her head, “So what’rya doin’ beatin’ the wall?”

Yukari sighed and straightened so she looked more professional (not that she actually cared what the brat thought of her). “You know that new French teacher?” The teen nodded, “He stole Nyamo from me!”

“Miss Minamo? Ah saw her just a second ago.”

Yukari perked up, “Really? Which way did they go?”

The blank look in Osaka’s eyes as she scanned around them was not comforting. She smiled and pointed in the opposite direction Yukari had been going, “That a way.”

“Thanks Osaka!”

Before she could even take off, the teen said “Wait! Miss Yukari!”

“What?”

“Can Ah help ya find Miss Minamo?”

Yukari gave her a hesitant look. The Osakan teen would only slow her down, but…  “I guess?”

“We’re gonna findya Miss Minamo!”

* * *

_Half an hour later._

“Where are we, Miss Yukari?” Osaka clung to her teacher’s arm as a foreign man covered in tattoos passed them.

“I don’t know, but I think we took a wrong turn somewhere…”

“Do ya know where they could’ve been going to?”

Yukari shook her head and nearly jumped when she saw how many piercings that young woman had. “I don’t speak French.”

“French?” Osaka grinned, “Ah know some French!”

“What?!”

The teen nodded, “Ah took it back in middle school,”

Yukari could’ve exploded with relief. “Then what does _, say swar je noublea pa_ mean?”

Osaka squinted her eyes as she tried to decode the accent. “Ah think he’s saying something about tonight bein’ unforgettable.”

 _Bastard._ She racked her brain for something else he said. “ _Fair uh promenade_ something _park, noose pouvan_ I DON’T KNOW.” She gave a frustrated cry.

“They’re going to the park so they can do something?”

“ _DO SOMETHING?!”_

“Y-Yes.”

Angrily, she stormed away from the heavily gothic teens and scary looking young adults. She practically dragged Osaka across town, since the accented girl wouldn’t let go of her arm.

It wasn’t until that they arrived in a more familiar part of town did Yukari slow her pace. They were quite relieved to see the safer side of their touristy city. They were just a couple blocks away now…

Then Osaka’s stomach grumbled. Loudly. Yukari stopped and raised an eyebrow at her student.

“Miss Yukari, Ah haven’t ate dinner yet.”

“Well go eat something!” Yukari began walking again, slightly annoyed.

“But Ah’m helpin’ ya find Miss Minamo.”

The English teacher pointed in the general direction of the park, “I know where she is though!”

Osaka frowned, “What if they’ve left?”

“They haven’t!” Yukari hissed, walking faster. She could hear the short teen struggling to keep up.

* * *

_After thoroughly searching the park for thirty minutes…_

“They left! What the hell, Nyamo?!” Yukari raged at the cloudless sky.

The woman took a seat on an empty bench and sighed. The sun was beginning to fall, while street lamps flickered to life. Where could they be?

Osaka patted her back. “Can we find something to eat, Miss Yukari?”

“Yeah, whatever.” She grumbled, standing lazily.

Yukari dragged her feet as they exited the park. Osaka held her stomach, which was still painfully empty and making a lot of noise. The teacher could hardly care though, it was like there was a storm cloud over her person.

“Why did she have to go off with that dude anyway?”

Osaka let her rant, helplessly scanning the area for _somewhere_ to eat.

“I can be smooth too, dammit… English is nice to listen to, but she never swoons when I speak in English.”

In the distance, Osaka spotted it. Heaven… Those golden arches and bright lights attracted the young and old, fat and skinny, tourist and students on a budget… Her stomach pleaded with her. She couldn’t speak stomach, but she could guess what it wanted.

“We were gonna go home and watch a movie or something! I can’t believe she ditched me like that-“

“Miss Yukari?”

“Stupid woman only has guys on her mind!”

“Miss Yukari!”

“Damn! Damn! Damn!”

Osaka backed away in fear when Yukari waved her arms wildly and started having another fit. They were attracting a lot of attention and the student didn’t know what to do. But food was just down the street… She had to wake her teacher up somehow.

“Nyamo hates me! She’d rather be with a silly, stupid sounding French teacher! I-“

One well meaning, well placed leg and a gentle shove to the back. Yukari fell flat on her face. Oh man, that sidewalk was so cold and so dirty.

“M-Miss Yukari?” Osaka watched her teacher nuzzle the sidewalk. “Ah found somewhere to eat.”

As calm as a breeze, Yukari asked, “Is that why you tripped me?”

“Yep,”

The lack of hesitation pissed Yukari off. She jumped to her feet and was about to strangle her student, when there was a divine intervention.

“Yukari? Osaka?! What are you two doing here?”

Yukari could’ve recognized that damned voice anywhere. She turned and saw Tomo, Yomi and Kagura.

“Could this night get any worse?!”

“Don’t tear up, Miss Yukari! Why don’tcha cheer up?” Chiyo bounded up beside her friends in her overly happy manner.

Yukari felt like bashing her head into the wall.

* * *

Hours passed and Yukari was no closer to finding Minamo. It was time to throw in the towel. She’d just have to wait patiently for her partner.

“You’re giving up?!” Chiyo cried

“But Miss Yukari, Ah was gonna help ya til we found her…”

“Aw man! I knew we should’ve checked at Tokyo Tower first!”

Yukari held up her hand tiredly to stop them. “Thanks for nothing guys, see you all Monday.”

“Ah wanted ta help…”

She didn’t even spare a glance back at the Osakan. Yukari moped all the way to Minamo’s apartment. Her night was ruined. Her life was ruined… All because of French…

Imagine her surprise when Minamo actually yelled _at her_ for roaming the city so late at night with students. Yukari was too elated to see her Minamo to care.  


	6. Yukari versus The Knuckleheads-That's Redundant

There was five minutes before class started. That meant there was five minutes to cram for the upcoming test.

Chiyo and Yomi had been studying all week and especially last night. They were confident that they would do well. The two talked about a drama they both watched last night. Meanwhile Sakaki never had any problems with school work or tests, so she stared out the window and dreamed up scenarios with Chiyo’s father breaking into school. He would rescue his darling daughter from the evil bullies…

Tomo, Kagura and Osaka were crowded around the hyper teen’s desk. Sloppy notes were scattered in front of them.

“It’s no good.” Osaka commented, pushing the paper away from her. “Ah can’t remember all this.”

“I can’t even read your handwriting, assbutt!” Kagura growled as she held the paper closer to her face. She couldn’t determine what symbol that squiggly line was supposed to be.

From across the room, Chiyo’s ponytails twitched. She looked at Yomi with empty eyes and whispered, “That was redundant…”

Yomi gave her a fearful look.

Tomo grinned blankly at the paper in front of her. Kagura could tell nothing was going on in that brain of hers. There was no point in even trying… The athletic teen sighed and threw in the towel as well. She held her hand out weakly, Tomo’s and Osaka’s hand joined hers.

“Team knuckleheads!” They groaned together while giving a defeated hooray.

Yukari stormed into class a minute later and slammed a stack of papers on her test. She quickly and loudly marked on the board. “Test number two is about to begin!”

She smiled at her class, loving the mixed looks of her students. Their expressions ranged from fearful to smugness. “Take your seats and we can get started!”

* * *

“Yukari-san?”

“What is it, Osaka?” The English teacher glanced up from her papers.

“Can I put my name on the test ‘nd turn it in?”

“If you want…”

Oskak jotted down her name and handed the paper to her, “Here ya go.”

Yukari sighed and shook her head.

Chiyo, who had been watching the whole exchange, stood up from her seat and cried out, “Miss Osaka! Don’t give up yet!”

* * *

“Hey, Yukari-chan?”

“Yeah, Tomo?”

“What’s the answer to this question?”

Yukari picked up the textbook on her desk and smacked the teen over the head with it.

* * *

“Uh, Miss Yukari?”

The eccentric teacher sighed and raised an eyebrow at her student. “What, Kagura?”

“Am I using the right words?”

“Go sit back down.”

Kagura’s shoulders slumped. She trudged back to her desk and fell back into her seat with a heavy sigh.


	7. Tomo/Yomo First Kiss

Yomi tapped her pencil against the worksheet she was currently working on. She glanced over at her alarm clock and sighed at the time; 7:58. Tomo would, like every other Friday night, be arriving soon to disturb her studying. At least she was almost done with her homework…

She shook her head at that. There were so many other things she needed to do besides completing the health worksheet Miss Kurosawa had assigned for Monday. She still needed to respond to her American pen pal’s letter. While their Japanese was improving vastly, she felt her English still needed a lot of work. Then of course she needed to do those math questions.

The bespectacled teen frowned and decided she needed to get back to work, so she could relax the rest of the weekend.

When 9:05 rolled around, Tomo slipped into her room much more quietly than normal. Not a word was passed between them as the hyper teen sat on Yomi’s bed. Out of the corner of her eye, Yomi watched Tomo pick up the book on her nightstand and began to read it. She rolled her eyes; no doubt she’d get made fun of for her choice of genre. Fantasy/Supernatural Romance novels weren’t exactly popular.

Oddly, Tomo continued to stay silent. Yomi took advantage of that and was able to work on her homework without distraction. She expected Tomo to begin yapping at any moment.

Fifteen minutes passed, the taller teen was in the middle of a math problem but she couldn’t concentrate. Her focus kept straying to Tomo, why was she so quiet? She was worried. Putting down her pencil, she swiveled her chair to face the other side of the room.

Tomo sat with her legs crossed, book in her lap. Her hair fell in front of her face, but Yomi could still see the anxious look. She wasn’t reading the novel; she was staring pensively at it.

“Tomo?”

The Tomo’s eyes snapped up to meet hers. Perking up immediately, she answered “Yeah, Yomi?”

“What’re you doing?” Yomi asked, “Are you okay?”

Tomo shrugged, “Just wanted to see how long it took you to talk to me.”

“Why?”

“Because I always talk first.”

Yomi chuckled and leaned back in her chair. Crossing one leg over the other she said, “Because you’re always talking.”

Her retort didn’t seem to please her friend. Tomo nodded and let her gaze fall back to the book. Yomi watched her for a couple seconds. Obviously something was bothering her friend. With a sigh, the tall teen stood from her chair and moved to the bed. She sat close to her best friend since grade school, resting her back against the wall.

“What’s up, Tomo?”

Tomo closed the book and placed it back on the nightstand. “I dunno what to do, Yomi.”

“About what?”

“Anything!” She groaned and pulled her legs up against her chest. Wrapping her arms around them, she rested her chin on her knees. “Just give me a yes or no answer.”

“What’s the question?”

“That wasn’t an option, Yomi. Yes or no.”

Yomi sighed. She wondered what this was all about. “It’s too weird when you’re serious so…” Even though she would normally be against any plan of _Tomo’s_ , she felt this time was different. Whatever was messing with her friend was probably a big deal.

“Yes.”

Tomo’s eyes widened. “…Okay.” She shifted so that her legs were resting underneath her.

Yomi leaned her head against the wall and looked over at her friend, “Now what’s this all-“

She stopped talking, _stopped breathing,_ as Tomo took up her whole field of vision. Bright, brown eyes pleaded with her. Yomi tried not to gape when she saw past the question in her eyes, past the blazing fear, and saw the devotion Tomo had been hiding for so many years. It took the rest of Yomi’s breath away.

The dark haired teen scooted closer, rested her forehead against Yomi’s.

“Yomi?” Her voice, normally so loud, was tiny.

“Tomo…” Yomi felt her face burn. In spite of everything Tomo did that annoyed her to no end, she had always liked the shorter teen. She often thought, and hoped, they would end up together.

She shifted to mirror Tomo’s position. Her eyes flicked down to her best friend’s lips. They were parted slightly and within reach; she would only have to duck her head to claim them as her own…

Tomo reached out to hesitantly place a hand on Yomi’s hip. Pulling her closer, they stared at one another again. “Are you sure?” She asked, breath hot against Yomi’s cheek.

The taller teen’s mind whirled. This would be her first kiss. She worried if her glasses would ruin it. She wondered if the other girl would regret this later. Her brain went blank as Tomo leaned closer still. She tried to focus on those loving brown eyes, but they fell close. Her nose pressed into her cheek…

Yomi knew their lips were only an inch apart… She wanted nothing more than to close the distance, to finally kiss her. But she was so nervous. When she felt Tomo shift again to press her body against Yomi’s, the taller teen pulled back to look at her friend.

Unfortunately, Tomo took it as a no. She jolted away from Yomi’s rejection. Tomo’s chest exploded with pain. She hated herself for even trying. The hyper teen sat back on her legs and turned away, the lump in her throat prevented her from apologizing.

Yomi tilted her head, confused.

Tomo shook her head and wished she could talk. Her mouth opened, but she couldn’t manage to make her voice work.

Yomi nodded. She felt disappointed and heartbroken. “Couldn’t do it, huh?”

“Yomi… I’m so sorry,” Tomo choked out. She blinked back tears. She had expected either a fantastic kiss or a flat out rejection, but never a close miss. It hurt. They had been so close… “Please, don’t think badly of me.”

“No. I understand.” Yomi forced herself to smile. She wondered what Tomo was thinking because she was getting emotional; Yomi chalked it up to regret. How bittersweet.

“I dunno… I kinda hoped you’d feel the same.” Tomo sniffed, “It’s okay you don’t like me though.”

What? Yomi was confused. “Tomo… I like you too.”

Tomo’s head whipped over to look at her, “But-“

“I’m a little nervous,” Yomi mumbled as a blush spread across her cheeks, “I didn’t mean to pull away, but… This is my first kiss.”

The hyper teen grinned. “Same.”

They smiled at each other, glad that it was just a misunderstanding. Tomo reached over to take Yomi’s hand, “Wanna try again?”

The bespectacled teen nodded.

Without a big build up, they kissed. It was simple and perfect and the first of many.


	8. Doodles

Chiyo glanced up from her science worksheet, doing a double take to confirm what her brain initially comprehended. Tomo was half laying on the table, propping her head in her hand. Her mouth was quite animated as she chatted with Kagura. The sporty teen had pushed away her text book and was chewing on the end of her pen while she listened to Tomo’s half of the story. Beside them, the third and final knucklehead was fast asleep.

She looked at the end of the table where Sakaki sat. The tallest teen had her new cat, Maya, in her lap and was lavishing the animal in attention. Chiyo felt happy for her friend, but wished there was more studying going on in her study group. The only one she could count on would be Yomi…

Smiling widely, she turned her attention to the bespectacled teen. The grin instantly fell from her face when she saw that Yomi had all of her attention on the cake in the middle of the table.

Chiyo had baked the double chocolate cake herself last night. They had agreed five to one that the cake should be saved until an hour into the study group. Yomi had been quite disappointed. Chiyo felt sorry for the cake, which was being glared at by the most normal teen among them.

She looked across the table when Tomo let out a loud groan (that somehow didn’t wake up the Osakan). The hyperactive teen folded her arms on the table and let her head rest on top. Her voice was muffled, but the whine was evident.

“How much _longer?_ ”

Chiyo sweatdropped and looked at the clock on her desk. “Miss Tomo, it’s only been thirty minutes.”

“I’m tired of studying!” Tomo moaned into her arms.

Chiyo didn’t know what to say, so she followed Yomi’s protocol whenever Tomo begins fussing. Ignore her. The young genius eyed the knuckleheads wearily one last time before returning to her studies.

Kagura stared down at her crazy friend, a brilliant idea coming to mind upon seeing her folded arms. She took the pen from her mouth. The athletic teen shifted so she sat facing Tomo and put a steadying hand on the other teen’s closest arm. Tomo said nothing, did nothing, as the pen touched her skin. She wondered what the big boobed moron was going to draw on her.

The swimmer grinned at the scribble, but decided more is more. She gave just a little more effort to get the details just right. Before her very eyes, the doodle became a work of art. One last mark… Perfection. Kagura sat back and smirked at her artistic skills.

Tomo raised her head lazily. After she saw the sketch on her arm, she yelled “What the hell?!”

She tried to twist her arm to get a better look, “Is that Neko Koneko?”

Sakaki jolted out of her Maya induced happiness at the mention of her favorite franchise kitty.

“Yeah! As a mafia boss!”

The quiet teen fell to the floor in a dead faint. Maya sniffed his new master worriedly.

“Nice!”

“I can also draw them as a pirate!”

“No way!”


	9. Long Distance

Tomo’s phone rang loudly from her bedside table. The hyper teen had crashed an hour earlier, so it took almost half of her ringtone to wake up. She blindly groped for her phone and then flipped it open. With a yawn, she answered.

“Yomi?”

“ _Kagura actually_.” The other end corrected.

That startled Tomo fully awake; she sat up in bed to better hear her friend. Kagura was off on the other side of Japan with some other members of the swim team attending the national’s championship. It had only been four days since they last saw each other, but…

“ _I miss you,_ ” Kagura’s voice was low and sweet.

Tomo grinned from ear to ear, “Me too.”

“ _I can hear Miss Kurosawa on the balcony talking to Yukari… It made me want to call you._ ”

“How’s the competition?”

“ _I almost lost today, but I beat them in the last ten meters.”_

“Way to go!”

“ _Yeah,_ ” She chuckled, “ _Miss Kurosawa was super excited for me.”_

Tomo lay back down. As she snuggled into her pillow, she asked “Are you having fun?”

“ _It’s awesome and everything…. But man. This hotel gives me the creeps. I can’t sleep.”_

Tomo cackled, “Seen any ghosts?”

_“DON’T SAY THAT!”_

“Any cockroaches?”

“ _DUDE. I’M GOING TO KILL YOU WHEN I GET HOME.”_

Tomo’s laughter was contagious though and Kagura began giggling with her. The hyper teen caught her breath, “You’re kinda paranoid, aren’tcha?”

“ _Well now that you’ve said something!”_

“Eh, don’t worry.”

Kagura sighed into the phone, “ _I shouldn’t have called you.”_

 _“_ You only have one more race tomorrow, right?”

“ _Yeah._ ”

“Good luck then!” Tomo passed a hand over her face.

“ _Thanks.”_

And for a minute they listened to each other breathe.

Knowing she needed sleep, Kagura said “ _Good night, dumbass.”_

“Night, moron. See you soon…”

Tomo could practically hear the grin on Kagura’s face, “ _See you,”_


	10. Ruined Dinner

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one actually makes me sad lol

“I love you...”

Minamo gaped at Yukari. Of all the things they were going to talk about on their night out, this was not one of them… She was at a loss of words.

Of course, Minamo had suspected for some time that Yukari might think they were something a little more than friends… But Yukari had always been protective and overly friendly. It was the initial jealousy of finding out about an arranged marriage that made Minamo question Yukari’s feelings. She had kept those thoughts to herself though, not wanting to ruin their friendship.

How could she tell Yukari that she only felt friendship for her? There was no way she could stand to see this heartbroken expression every day.

Her best friend, of many, many years, turned away. Minamo watched her eyebrows furrow, regret was pouring off her in waves.

The restaurant was anything but quiet, but the silence between them drowned out the noise.

Minamo kept her gaze on Yukari, still trying to understand what was going on. Yukari had _never_ expressed any interest in dating and finally it made sense. The PE teacher wondered how long she had felt like that. She was flattered, but utterly confused.

How had this happened? Yukari was supposed to be the _one_ uncomplicated thing in her life…

Yukari stood. Her posture was stiff and her words even more tense, “Nevermind, Minamo-san.”

The honorific was like a punch to the gut. Before Minamo could even try to remember the last time they had used honorifics, Yukari hastily continued.

“I apologize for ruining your dinner.”

And she was gone.


	11. Nyamo-Chan

Minamo sighed and squeezed her eyes close. Even with her sunglasses, her eyes hurt from the sun’s rays. She couldn’t imagine how Yukari must feel. Her other half was in the middle of re-reading one of her favorite English novels. Something about the American dream and being run over by an ex-lover?

“Yukari?”

She grunted.

“Would you like something to drink? I’m thirsty.”

Yukari, oddly, said nothing. Instead she held up a half empty plastic water bottle. Minamo shifted so she sat more comfortably in her lounge chair. There wasn’t a point to getting up if it was only her feeling a little parched. She raised an arm so it rested lazily over her head. How was she so pale?

Preoccupied with comparing herself to a ghost (a sick ghost at that), she didn’t notice Chiyo until the little girl bounded over and stopped right by her side.

“Miss Kurosawa!” Her perky voice put a smile on the PE teacher’s face.

“Hey, Chiyo-chan,”

The small genius held out a juice box, “I bought an extra, but none of the others wanted it. Would you care for a drink?”

Heaven sent. For the umpteenth time, she wished she could marry Chiyo. “Thank you, Chiyo-chan. Are you sure you don’t want it?”

“It’s okay sensei!”

Yukari tore her attention away from the book to watch Minamo punch the tiny straw into the juice box. She glared as her student skipped away, not offering her a drink. However the glare didn’t last long as her partner sipped the drink without a care.

Minamo noticed the grin. “What?”

“Nothing… Nyamo-chan.” Yukari snickered.

Minamo blushed but held her head high as she continued to drain the contents of the juice box.


	12. Chiyo's New Year Dream

When Chiyo’s parents built a pool in their backyard, it became an instant favorite hangout for her and her friends. They hadn’t expected to see her friends almost _every day_ , but their daughter was happy and that made them happy.

Kagura had been the most excited about the news. Even though it was a normal sized pool that only went up to five and half feet, it was better than what she had (nothing). So they eagerly waited for the pool to officially open.

Luckily, the group didn’t have to wait long. Only three weeks! Now the pool was theirs to use whenever Chiyo let them. The young genius didn’t have a problem with seeing her friends every other day over summer break.

Today was going about as normally as their swimming days do.

Chiyo was treading water happily as she splashed around with Tomo. Osaka lazily floated with her innertube, soaking up the sun. Yomi was swimming near the genius, making sure her hyper friend doesn’t drown her. Sakaki sat on the side of the pool with her feet in the water. Mr. Tadakichi sat beside her and she was petting him contently.

The genius grinned at her lazy friends and then at the athletic teen going back and forth past them.

Kagura had her game face on. She was doing laps in the small pool, nothing could stop her Chiyo was convinced.

Except Osaka yelling, “BWAH!” and attempting to take her innertube off quickly. Everyone stopped what they were doing to give her a strange look. She appeared to be stuck, one of her arms was still in the center of the ring and she was flailing her arms.

“Get it off!”

Chiyo and her friends watched her continue to flail. Eventually the innertube flew off of her and she could breathe easy again. She turned to them, “There was a bug! ‘Nd y’all didn’t help!”

Tomo splashed water in her face. Osaka sputtered for breath dramatically. “Y’all are trying ta kill me!”

Kagura went back to swimming laps, but slowed her pace. “It was just a bug, Osaka.”

“IN MAH FACE.”

“What yew mean?” Yomi mocked

“The bug didn’t mean any harm, Miss Osaka.” Chiyo swam towards her slightly angry friend. “It’s okay.”

“No, Chiyo-chan. It’s not okay.”

Chiyo noticed a dark stormy look pass over the Osakan’s face and felt nervous. She watched Osaka raise her arms, palms towards the air. Clouds rolled in seconds later.

Lightning struck the tree directly behind Osaka and thunder clapped loudly.

“Miss Osaka! Please, calm down!”

“Chiyo-chan, ‘M sorry.”

And the Osakan lifted into the air. She floated slowly into the cloud and disappeared.

Chiyo remembered thinking _not again_ as the scene slowly faded away.

* * *

The small girl slowly opened her eyes. She blinked repeatedly to clear the bleariness and then she remembered her dream. Confusion set in quickly. She rolled onto her side and hugged her pillow. At the foot of her bed, Mr. Tadakichi huffed out a breath.

“That was strange…” She whispered.

“Oh, indeed.”

A shiver went up her spine at the unfamiliar voice behind her. She turned over and almost screamed when she saw a floating orange cat thing.

“Hello… Daughter.”

Chiyo stared at the weird looking animal.

“Fear not, Chiyo-chan.” He held out an eggplant with both of his noodle like arms, “I present to you an eggplant.”

When she didn’t respond, he turned a scary red color, “Would you prefer a hawk?!” A hawk appeared outside her window seal.

“Um,”

“MT. FUJI THEN?”

And he teleported them to Mt. Fuji. They were on the peak of the mountain and Chiyo felt vertigo hit her hard as she looked down.

“S-Sir. Can I go back to my room, please?”

“Call me, Father.”

* * *

Chiyo was startled awake from her second dream.

Fearfully, she asked as she opened her eyes, “A-Am I awake?”

When no one answered, she breathed out in relief.


	13. Minamo's New Year's Dream

Something was off…Minamo couldn’t quite place it, but she felt different. Lighter almost…

She woke up as easily and noticed the arm wrapped around her waist. Her heart soared as she carefully turned over to watch her partner sleep. It was a little unusual that Yukari had stayed on a morning that they had to work, but Minamo didn’t mind.

The PE teacher wiggled out of bed. Before she could blink, she was ready for work. Oddly enough, Yukari was too.

Yukari drove them to work.

Minamo _let_ Yukari drive.

Yukari didn’t kill them OR get in any accidents.

Oh yes, something was off. She wondered why the sky was so blue and why her class seemed quieter. Things were going too smoothly.

During lunch hour, her _idiotic, insensitive_ partner offered to buy lunch. She went off campus to grab them a plate of sushi to share. It was virtually unheard of.

Minamo actually felt happy. Maybe more than happy. She was probably about to burst from cheerfulness. It had been… years! Since she felt as carefree as she did now.

It was barely five seconds later and Yukari returned. With the take out box in her hand, she lightly kissed Minamo on the cheek. _Odd._

When she opened the plastic container, her heart stopped. A large orange cat-thing was stuffed into the box and blinked up at her.

That’s when Minamo snapped. Before things could get any more out of the ordinary, she ran from the room. Behind her, she heard Yukari and the cat pleading for her to stop.

She ran, flew down the stairs, and busted through the double doors. She breathed in the fresh outside air, hoping to clear her head. Instead, she could faintly smell her partner’s deodorant.

“WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?”

* * *

Yukari had an amused grin on her face when her partner bolted awake.

“About time you woke up, it’s nearly ten.” Then she noticed the upset look on Minamo’s face and how heavily she was breathing. Putting a hand on her shoulder to push the woman back down on the bed, she asked, “Hey. You alright?”

The PE teacher tried to calm her breath. She raised a hand to wipe away the beads of sweat on her forehead. “Bad dream.”

“Oooh, tell me.” Yukari rested her head on Minamo’s shoulder.

“Well… Everything was kinda perfect… You bought lunch! But it was a weird cat thing, Chiyo-chan’s father…” Minamo said, though unsure.

“What?”

Minamo nodded. “I’m not sure.”

“Maybe that curry was a bad idea.” Yukari smiled into her shoulder.

“Yeah… It was probably the curry.” She spent the rest of the day trying to repress the somewhat disturbing dream.


	14. Arcade

“I think this diet will be better for me, since-“

Tomo interrupted Yomi’s rant as soon as she saw Kagura, “How’s your arm?”

The sporty teen blushed and joined the group, “It’s fine, I told you.”

“Dumbass over here took a spill in the arcade,” Tomo laughed and pointed to her friend.

“And you tripping me had nothing to do with it?!” Kagura couldn’t help but grin with her.

“You two went to the arcade?” Chiyo asked sweetly, glancing up at the two alike girls.

“Yeah,” Tomo puffed out her chest, “And guess who won the most games?”

“Kagura,” They chorused.

Tomo hung her head in defeat. She let out a sigh, “Yeah… But I mean I won all the racing games.”

Kagura mouthed that she let her win. Yomi nodded in understanding, while Chiyo smiled at her proudly.

“Ya say ya let her win?”

Kagura facepalmed. She let her hand pass over her face and then she saw the completely devastated look on Tomo’s face. She launched into an explanation, “No way! You won those fair and square!”

“Really?” The hyper teen sniffed.

“Totally.”

Osaka tilted her head, but before she could say anything Yomi clamped a hand over her mouth.


	15. Dramatic Much- Tomo/Kagura

With _much_ hesitation, Kagura let Tomo have a second chance at giving her a shoulder massage. Apprehensively, she sat in front of the hyper teen. She expected a karate chop to her head any moment but was pleasantly surprised when Tomo’s hands began to work her tense shoulders.

“You’re kinda stiff.”

Kagura tried to relax. But when Tomo hit a particularly sore spot, the swimmer let out a groan.

“Dude, does your neck hurt?”

“Y-Yeah, a little.”

Tomo carefully worked on easing her friend’s shoulder muscles. Her motions were strong, but soothing. She stopped after a bit of contemplation.

Kagura almost turned around to ask what was wrong when Tomo said, “Can I try karate chopping your shoulders?”

The athletic teen dramatically leapt off her bed.


	16. Yukari's New Year's Dream

Yukari stood up from the barstool and straightened her brown vest. She looked worse for wear in dark, dirty pants and a gray shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. The gold, star shaped badge pinned to her vest glared briefly against the burning lantern on the bar’s countertop.

 “Thanks, partner.” She said, pushing her empty glass away.

The bartender, a barely four foot four Chiyo nodded. “I’ll put it on the sheriff’s bill.”

Yukari picked up her hat and lightly bowed her head to the young girl. She strolled out of the bar and into the dusty street. It was just after noon and there wasn’t one lingering gang member in sight…

The sheriff tipped her hat at the general store clerk. Osaka, in a modest dress that reached down to her ankles, curtsied back. She continued through her town, wondering if Sakaki had made it back from her trip to the city. She really needed her best deputy back. Her second deputy was a bonehead and about to get on her last nerve.

She stepped onto the porch of her office and took in a breath. Lord, give her patience.

As she pushed open the door, a hyper deputy raised a shotgun at her. “STOP WHERE YOU-“ Tomo lowered the gun, “Oh, sorry boss.”

She propped her gun up against the wall and went back to sweeping the office and jointed jail cell. Yukari shook her head at Tomo and turned to her desk. Sakaki sat in the light of the lamp doing paperwork.

“Yukari-sama,” She spoke up, “There’s two missing dog cases that I would like to investigate.”

Yukari waved her hand. “Don’t we have something more important like a kidnapping or a murder or-“

“There’s a bounty out for Koyomi the Killer.”

Tomo gasped, “Yomi of Diet Ranch?”

“The same one…” Sakaki answered quietly.

“Perfect.” Yukari slung her rifle over her shoulder so it rested on her back. “Let’s go catch her.”

“There’s one woman being held captive by her…” Sakaki read off the bounty flyer, she nearly gulped upon reading the name.

Sensing her deputy’s hesitation, Yukari asked “Full report?”

“Miss Kurosawa of Azuma Ranch…”

Yukari felt her determination flare to dangerous levels. If Sakaki dared to look closer, she was sure there would be fire burning in the sheriff’s eyes. It was on.

* * *

After riding thousands of miles across the desert in a matter of seconds, they arrived at Yomi’s hideout.

“She was last spotted here, Yukari-sama.”

Yukari jumped off her black stallion and stealthily ran to the nearest boulder, her two deputies following close. In the distance they could see a small ranch house surrounded by a short fence.

“Her right hand man, Kagura, is playing look out.” Tomo whispered, pointing to the girl sitting on top of the roof. Her legs dangled over the edge.

“Okay,” Yukari grabbed the gun off her back, “Let’s rock this.”

Her deputies nodded and together the three of them charged from behind the boulder. Kagura wouldn’t have noticed if Tomo and Yukari hadn’t been yelling the whole time they ran towards her. Because they were, she hopped off the roof landing perfectly.

Kagura ran towards the fence and ducked behind it as lasers flew past her head.

“Tell Koyomi to give me Nyamo back!” Yukari screamed into the wind as she wildly fired at the crouched figure.

“What are you talking about?!” Kaugra shouted over the fires from her own shot gun.

Yukari growled a slung her shotgun over her shoulder. It smacked against her back painfully as she ran, but she ignored it. She dodged the lasers masterfully and reached for the rope hanging from her belt. With plenty of experience, she swung the lasso over her head.

“Last chance, Kagura!”

The tan and dirty accomplice growled, “You’ll never catch me!”

Two seconds later, Kagura was writhing on the ground trying to get her arms unpinned from her side. “Dammit!” She squirmed on the ground as Tomo hog tied her.

Sakaki frowned at the harsh treatment and decided she would stay to watch the “prisoner.” Yukari had a feeling that Kagura would be long gone when they returned, but she was focused on rescuing Nyamo.

She kicked open the door to the ranch house and was surprised to see Koyomi laying out on the couch. Her Nyamo sat in the chair closest to the fireplace and had been reading a book outloud.

“Uhh?” Yukari tried to make sense of the lack of danger Minamo was in.

“NO ONE MOVE.” Tomo yelled, that seemed to wake everyone up to the real situation.

Koyomi rolled off the couch and ducked behind the arm chair, “Yukari! What are you doing here? This is out of your jurisdiction!”

“Nyamo!” Yukari pointed her gun in Koyomi’s direction, “I’m here to rescue you, come on!”

Minamo just gave her a look like she was stupid. Before the rancher woman could call her a dumbass, a floating orange cat carrying a tray with tea entered the room. Upon seeing Yukari and Tomo with guns pointed at Koyomi, the cat let the tray crash to the ground.

“WHAT IS THIS?!” His voice shook the house like an earthquake. Yukari stared in horror as the cat turned purple and then bright red. “IT’S TEA TIME.”

* * *

Yukari bolted awake with an inhuman noise escaping her lips. It woke up her lover, who groaned and sat up.

“Am I _ever_ going to go to sleep, Yukari?” She huffed. Minamo had been taking care of a heavily drunken Yukari all night, “What is it now?”

“I had _that dream_.”

Tequila always made her dream of Westerns. “Just… Go back to sleep please.”


	17. Kagura/Sakaki First Kiss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one I actually wrote for a friend back in the day...

Kagura was in (raspberry) heaven as she walked Sakaki back home. Having spent most of the day together, the athletic teen had a good feeling about them. Even if things were going incredibly slow, Kagura was enjoying their growing relationship. She could see that Sakaki was enjoying herself as well. She grinned as she remembered how brightly Sakaki had smiled at the Animal Shelter they had visited easier today.

Her heart felt so warm at the memory. Glancing up at Sakaki, her grin grew just a little more. The black haired teen looked so peaceful and content. Yep, Kagura would say something tonight. Until then she continued to talk about her efforts to study for the upcoming English test.

Two more turns and they stood in front of the gate to Sakaki’s house.

“This was awesome! We should do this again!” Kagura leaned against the wall and watched her crush nod eagerly.

“I agree,” Sakaki blushed faintly, “That kitten was adorable.”

Kagura watched her fly off into la-la-land, loving the cute faces Sakaki was making at whatever she was imagining.

“Hey, Sakaki…”

The quiet teen exited her cute thought induced trance, “Yes?”

“You’re kinda cute.” She wanted it to sound casual, but she felt her ears heat up. She met Sakaki’s eyes for a second before averting them.

“R-Really?”

Kagura whipped her head back at the shocked sound in Sakaki’s voice. “Yeah! You’re actually super cute.”

Sakaki bit back a grin and leaned against the wall next to her friend. She glanced down at Kagura’s confident look, but noticed how her arms were crossed over her chest. The smaller teen was just as nervous as she was.

“I…” Now or never! “I like you, Sakaki.”

Kagura forced herself to look at her crush, willing to accept total rejection. However, Sakaki had the softest look on her face.

With her face burning hot, Sakaki replied. “I like you as well.”

A spark shot through her chest. Kagura tried to act cool, even as she practically leapt at the taller teen. She was over the moon.

“Then you’ll be my girlfriend?”

Sakaki awkwardly held the girl, who had her arms pinned to her side. “Yeah, that would be nice.”

“Could I, uh…” Kagura tilted her head up to meet Sakaki’s eyes. The taller teen was half a foot taller than her it seemed. She swallowed as she dragged her gaze down to her lips. “Kiss you?”

Sakaki’s eyes widened. Like a nervous creature, she looked all around them first. There wasn’t anyone on her street.

“I mean, we don’t have to…” Kagura mumbled, but felt her heart soar when Sakaki squeezed her frame lightly.

The black haired teen looked down at Kagura, who shifted just a little closer. “Are you positive?”

“I’ve sorta wanted to kiss you for a while,” She kept her voice low

With that, Sakaki slowly ducked her head. Both their eyes fell close and their lips met. Brief yet amazing. They pulled away, Kagura raised a hand to push some hair behind Sakaki’s ears.

“One more for the road?” She asked cheekily,

Sakaki smiled and complied.


	18. Fireworks!!

“FIREWORKS!!” Yukari waved her hands excitedly. Like a five year old, she jumped up and down, waiting impatiently for night to fall. She already had a line of fireworks set up.

“SPARKLERS!” Tomo yelled, holding at least ten in her hand.

“Morons.” Yomi and Minamo muttered under their breaths.

Kagura sat on the sand between Osaka and Sakaki. They were waiting for the show to start. Their host, the small Chiyo, was over by Tomo with _one_ sparkler at the ready.

“Now Nyamo?!” Yukari spun around like a drunken princess.

“Not yet,” She hissed for the fifth time in seven minutes.

Yomi kept a firm grip on the lighter as Tomo gave her a pleading look. They were supposed to be watching the sunset, but the hyperactive student and teacher were making it difficult.

_Ten excruciating minutes later_

“FIREWORKS!” Yukari yelled over the explosions. She whooped and hollered and ‘ooh’ed with everyone.

“Woah.” Kagura’s mind was blown just like the explosions in the air. It had been years since she last saw fireworks.

“Tha’s amazin’.” Osaka mumbled.

Sakaki nodded until she looked over and the Osakan was just watching Chiyo and Tomo.

“Tomo-chan! I don’t think you should have that many lit at once!”

Tomo waved the sparklers around crazily. “But look!”

Chiyo jumped away from the embers that rained down from the handful of sparklers in Tomo’s hand.

“Don’t burn Chiyo-chan!” Yomi yelled. She almost regretted defending her friend, when Tomo whirled around and began shaking the sparklers at her.

“Yomi! SPARKLERS!”

“Tomo! You’re going to burn someone!”

They turned around at the sound of a fight breaking out behind them. Minamo had Yukari pinned to the shore, no doubt having just tackled her down. They were fighting for the lighter.

“ _You can’t light them all at once!”_

“You’re NO FUN.”

Sakaki couldn’t help but grin when Kagura whispered, “I hope we do this again next year.”


	19. Yukamo versus the TV

Yukari was sprawled out on Minamo’s couch, her lover snuggled comfortably into her side. A blanket lay over them both. Night had fallen hours ago, so the curtains were drawn. The reading lamp sitting on the bookcase lit up the room as they watched a documentary on TV. Slow, ominous music played as the announcer’s smooth voice almost lulled Minamo to sleep.

“ _He was on his final trip up the mountain when disaster struck-“_

Yukari broke the somber atmosphere by letting loose an unladylike snort. Minamo flinched away, when she continued to laugh loudly near her ear.

“What?”

“HIS LAST TRIP!” She cackled, “CAUSE HE DIED!”

Horrific photographs of a mangled body floated lazily on screen as the announcer read off the autopsy report. The PE teacher was frozen in place; the once comforting blanket was now being used a shield to block her view of the TV.

Yukari clutched her stomach and let out a pleasant sigh. “Isn’t this show hilarious?”

“Why-why would you-“

“You don’t like it?” Yukari asked with a grin.

“No!” Minamo yelled, clutching the blanket tighter. “You sick bastard! Why are we watching this?!”

Minamo lunged for the remote. Yukari tried to yank it back. With random button pressing, the channel changed as well as the volume and brightness. Too focused on getting the other to let go, neither noticed what they were doing to the TV.

After several minutes of name calling, the two finally ran out of energy. Yukari lay limp in Minamo’s lap, pouting.

“It wasn’t even _that_ bad of a show!”

“Malo? Televisión es bueno!”

Slowly, their heads turned towards the TV. The background was bright green and a strange, orange cat stared at them.

“Uhhh….”

“No tengas miedo, soy el padre de Chiyo-chan.”

How the tides have turned.

Yukari sat, disturbed by the image on screen. She clutched Minamo tighter. The athletic woman translated her lover’s shaking and quickly took action. Lifting to the remote, she watched the cat’s eyes narrow in hatred as the TV went black once again.

Neither slept much that night.


	20. Yukamo Drabble 1-Original Title ;D

Yukari chuckled at the man on screen, who held up a boombox to his ex-girlfriend’s window; some sappy love song about not being able to go on without her blared from the stereo.

“How pathetic.” Yukari scoffed at his attempt to win her back.

Beside her on the couch, curled up with a pillow in her lap, Minamo rolled her eyes. “You’re so unromantic.”

“Why use someone else’s words?”

Minamo looked over at her partner, “That’s actually a good point.”

Yukari reached out to wrap an arm around Minamo’s shoulder and pulled her close. “This is a decent movie, I guess.”

“But this time I’m telling my kids that I watched it, so don’t go running your mouth about watching it during a date again!”

* * *

“What did I tell you, dammit?!”

“Well it sorta was a date…”

“That our students don’t need to know about!”


	21. Yukamo Drabble 2 :D

Yukari wiped away the drool trying to dribble down her chin. Why did she love to torture herself with these  _perfect_ cooking magazines? Everything looked so  _heavenly..._ And her girlfriend wouldn't let them go out to eat tonight! She glanced over at Minamo, who was watching some  _romantic comedy_  that had ruined their date night.

The worst part was she had no one to blame but herself, after all she was the one who turned on the TV.

Damn. Damn! DAMN.

The quirky woman yanked at the page, ripping it a little, before closing the magazine all together. She leaned back into the sofa and glanced over at Minamo. She couldn't help but roll her eyes.

Minamo had a hand clutched to her chest, her other hand covering her mouth. Tears were welling up in her eyes then slowly trailing down her cheeks. Her nose was even going red.

Yukari bit her lip, trying not to smile at her sappy other half.

When Minamo all but sobbed outloud, Yukari threw a tissue box at her.


	22. Just Another Heartache- Yukamo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think the backstory to this is Yukari and Minamo had a fight? They're in HS for this one

As her door opened for the fifth time in ten minutes, Yukari sighed and pressed the pause button on her game. She looked up and saw her father frowning down at her worriedly.

"Still not going to cry? Well, the food is almost ready."

Yukari snorted as her father hovered beside her. "This is dumb."

He handed her a cup of juice, "We're here for you, Yukari-chan. We'll help you recover."

 _"I'm just dandy._ "

Her father straightened, "Don't go using English on us now." He sounded slightly frightened.

" _And why the hell not?_ "

"She's using English, honey!" He yelled before patting her daughter on the head, "It's worse than we thought!"

Yukari unpaused her game. "Just get out, Dad."

**Bonus:**

"Oh finally, some good news." Yukari's mother said, "Let me get Yukari-chan for you."

Yukari didn't even jump when her father barged into her room. "Minamo is on the phone!" He practically sang.

"Oh great. Tell her I'm dead er something."

He ran out of the room, biting his lip at the hurt look on his daughter's face. "No dice yet, dear."

Mrs. Tanizaki sighed, "I'm sorry Minamo-chan. It seems Yukari-chan is still suffering from a broken heart."


	23. Yukamo Drabble 3 :P

"You are  _not_  hungry!" Minamo growled, wanting to close her eyes and fall back asleep.

Yukari held her stomach, "Nyamo! Just go cook me something!"

"It's  _two_  in the morning."

"I've cooked you food this late!" She whined, curling into her partner's side.

The tomboy blushed and flipped over so her back was towards Yukari. "T-That was totally different."

"Yeah right." Yukari groaned and rolled to the center of the bed. "Please, Nyamo!"

"Fine. But I'm only heating up the leftover rice though."

"I love you, Minamo."

And despite the rude awakening, Minamo smiled.


	24. What's That Over the Horizon? Tomo/Kagura

"Ah'm kinda nervous about college." Osaka admitted quietly, "Y'all aren't gonna be there."

Kagura and Tomo appeared on either side of her, "But we'll be there in spirit!" The athletic teen said

"Knuckleheads til the end!" Tomo yelled

Chiyo laughed happily with them, "Tomo, won't it feel weird not having Yomi with you?"

"Yeah, I guess it will be pretty odd." Tomo admitted with a pensive smile.

"I can't  _wait_  until we can finally go our separate ways!" Yomi stretched her arms above her head. "Being in the same class as her for all these years has worm me out."

Kagura frowned because Tomo frowned.

"That's not very nice, Yomi." Kagura faked a laugh, "Even if she is annoying."

"Taking breaks from relationships tend not to work," Chiyo-chan said matter-of-factly. When the group stared down at her, she realized her mistake, "Or friendships! In this case! Yeah,"

Tomo gave a weak laugh. "I could always transfer to your university, don't tempt me!"

No one missed how overly loud her voice was. Kagura moved to walk between Yomi and Tomo. Then cleverly changed the subject, "Chiyo, have you decided what American university you're going to?"

I'm deciding between Berkley or Harvard..."

Everyone gaped at the genius girl.

* * *

Kagura and Tomo waved goodbye to the group as they took a walk through the park instead of heading home. The tan teen could tell her friend was still upset about earlier.

"Yo, cheer up kid."

"Who're you calling kid?!" Tomo grinned and shoved her athletic friend. "I'm older than you!"

Kagura lightly shoved her back, "Seriously though, seeing you not smiling is like... Like seeing the sun not shining!" She was pretty proud of her simile.

"I think Yomi's done with me." The hyper teen forced a smile. "I guess it's for the best.

"Don't say that man! It's gonna work out between you and Yomi." If her throat hadn't closed up, she would've added 'and if not, you've got me.'

Tomo kicked at the ground. "What would you do?" Her voice shook slightly, "She's too good for me anyway. Why not just let her go like she wants?"

"Cause you won't be happy..."

Kagura had thought Tomo would never figure out that she had a crush on her; even if she wrote a letter or had huge neon signs built. But Tomo's eyes flashed in surprise at her friend's almost too caring words. In that brief moment, the gears in her brain began to turn.

"Kagura..." Tomo gawked at the tomboy. Everything Kagura had done for her came flashing back in a new light. The caring words, the careful touches, her overprotective nature, the jealousy... "You-"

But, for once, her brain hit the pause button on her motormouth. Seeing the terrified and slightly ashamed expression on her friend's face made her reconsider calling her out. Maybe it was best to wait until Kagura could outright tell her. Maybe when she could figure out her situation with Yomi.

"You're such a dork." Tomo finished with a laugh.

Kagura almost let out a sigh of relief. Instead she launched herself at her 'rival' "What'd you call me, princess romance?!"

They continued to play wrestle and tease each other until the sun threatened to set over the horizon.


	25. Sometimes Ya Gotta Tell Her to Shut Up- Yukamo

"Yukari," Minamo stopped her friend's babbling.

Yukari looked over, annoyed at being interrupted. "Yeah what?"

"You're my favorite person, you know that?"

The English teacher raised an eyebrow. "So?"

"So, please, shut the hell up."

Minamo couldn't help but crack a grin at the insulted look she received.

"Why should I?" Her voice challenging.

"We're here to flower gaze, admire the tranquil scattering."

Yukari scoffed. "No one said we had to do it silently!"

Minamo sighed. "Just shut up, okay?" She reached out to take her partner's hand. "For me."

The brown haired woman opened her mouth to retort, but after a pointed look decidedly chose to stay silent. Cherry blossoms fell around them from the gentle breeze and the couples around them 'ooh'ed and 'ahh'ed. Despite the magnificent scene though, a frown stayed delicately etched on Yukari's face.

"Oh, don't be like that."

Her partner turned her head away, nose in the air.

"I love your voice, just not right now."

A hurt look and a deeper pout.

"Enjoy the night, Yukari. Apparently this will be last good day before all the blossoms will have scattered."

"Fine."

Minamo smiled and moved closer into Yukari's side. Yukari returned a small smile as they continued their tour of the park.


	26. First I Love You's- Yukamo

Yukari repressed another groan. Barely. Her best friend  _on the entire planet_  was having herself a massive pity party. Minamo sat beside her on the edge of her couch, one leg bouncing restlessly. Seeing Minamo staring at the wall with a depressed look on her face made Yukari crave another drink. She slowly reached for her bottle of sake, only to pick it up and realize it was empty. The eccentric woman whined.

"Should I take 'im back?" Minamo asked, her words slurring slightly.

Reaching for her friend's bottle of sake, she was relived to see there was some magical liquid left. "Dunno." She answered as she poured another glass and gulped it down. "I wouldn't."

"But, ya know, he was alright ya know."

Yukari shrugged. She fell back into Nyamo's all-too-uncomfortable couch. "Only alright though."

"He thought I was cute..." She sighed wistfully, resting her elbows on her knees to prop up her head.

"I think you're cute." Yukari blurted out. Unfortunately drunk Yukari had a zero percent filter. "You're hot really." Make that a negative percent filter.

Minamo blushed and turned her gaze away. "Yeah, but you don't count."

"'Nd why the hell not?"

"Cause you're my best friend," Yukari exhaled through her nose, irritated in that answer, but Minamo continued before she could respond. "I need someone who's not my best friend so, ya know, when they leave like they always do, I'll still have my best friend."

"Make sense." The English teacher reached forward to pull Minamo into her side. With her friend sitting tense in a half embrace, Yukari intertwined their hands. "I wouldn't leave ya though."

Minamo snorted, but still relaxed into Yukari all the same. "Yeah right."

Her friend made a frustrated noise. "Nyamo!" She whined. "I- When I'm with ya, I'm the  _happiest_  person in the whole world."

"Even happier than someone who eats crab every day of their life?"

Yukari squeezed her hand and, with a minimal pause, responded. "At least two times happier."

And if that wasn't a confession of love, Minamo didn't know what was.


	27. How to Confess Your Love- Yukamo again!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on actual advice I received once

Yukari took another deep breath to calm her racing heart. She was on her way to meet Minamo for lunch. They hadn't spent too many Saturdays together, so Yukari had decided today would be perfect... The bus screeched to a stop and the eccentric teen squeezed her way out onto the street where Minamo was waiting. Her heart rate spiked again as she met Minamo's eyes. This was the moment she had been waiting...

Putting on a winning smile, she bounded over to her friend. "Yo!"

"Hey," Minamo pulled at her sleeves, "I think your bus was late."

"Probably." Yukari shrugged and nodded her head towards the corner cafe. "Are you ready to have the best tea of your life?"

Minamo grinned, following her friend closely. Yukari couldn't help but reach out to link their arms together, "Nyamo, I'm glad we're hanging out."

The athletic teen blushed at the new nickname, "Me too."

_So far so good._

The interior of the cafe was small and intimate. Yukari's favorite spot, nestled by the window in the middle of the shop, was vacant.  _It was a sign._

"Nyamo, let's go grab that table!" She all but yanked her friend in that direction. She pulled the plush chair, that was on the opposite side of the table, beside her before plopping down, "That way we can peoplewatch."

Minamo took the seat beside her, "My friends on the swim team thought this place was on the other side of town."

"There might be..." Yukari picked up the menu and looked over the list of teas. "Did you want to try their special label green tea?"

"What's it taste like? Have you had it?"

"I loved it. Its fruity and tart."

Minamo bit her lip, then nodded. "Yeah. I want to try it."

"Awesome." Yukari looked up at her friend.

_Now. Mission Woo Minamo is a-go._

"Their taiyaki is really good, iloveyou, I think you can even get it filled with custard." Yukari kept her eyes on the menus, too scared to look up at Minamo.

Meanwhile, the dark haired teen just thought she was going crazy. "Huh?"

"Custard and the green tea is a good combination, actually."

Minamo swallowed, "Uh... O-Okay. Let's try that."

_Test run: success._

* * *

The park was filled with couples (and pigeons) that afternoon. Everyone was taking advantage of the nice weather. There was plenty of entertainment on the sidewalk of the park: painters, dancers, photographers... But Yukari and Minamo were too involved in each other, in their conversation, to notice anyone around them.

"The committee won't remove the sport from the festival just because you don't like it!" Minamo nudged the eccentric teen, "They'd probably force you to participate if you complain. You're not exactly the school's favorite..."

"'S not my fault they screw up and it pisses me off!"

Minamo giggled, "You're too much of a rebel."

"So what?" Yukari puffed out her chest, "I think even the opinion of a rebel if valid. If I say that running a 10K is stupid, imagine what the other kids think about it..."

"You may have a point."

"I know fitness crazy nerds like you might not have a problem with 10ks, iloveyou, but I would much rather be playing softball or tug-of-war." Yukari noticed a wave of frustration break over Minamo's face. She fought back a smile.

The athletic teen frowned. "What is it that you're mumbling?"

"Come on, Minamo. You know me, iloveyou, I don't mumble!"

"You  _just_  did."

Yukari huffed. "What would I,loveyou, even been saying?"

“Yukari!” Minamo put her hands on her hips and stared her friend down, “Seriously, what are you saying?”

 _Damn, her strict face is too cute._ “I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”

“If you want to tell me something, you know you can just say it…”

“Yeah,” Yukari smiled, “I would. _If I had something to tell you.”_

If Minamo could’ve exploded in that moment, a mushroom cloud would’ve formed over the park and the surrounding quarter mile. Instead of erupting and giving Yukari that satisfaction, because clearly she was enjoying this, the athletic teen crossed her arms over her chest. “Well fine.”

“And what does that mean?” Yukari challenged her, grinning smugly.

“It means,” Minamo sighed, “I’m gonna go home now.”

Yukari’s smile faltered. “You wanna go home?”

“Not really, but you won’t tell me-“

“Look, I love you.” Yukari met Minamo’s wide eyes then turned away. Blushing madly she added, “Like a lover, not just friendship.”

Minamo didn’t really know what to say. It was too soon to confess a love she wasn’t sure about, the feelings were there but they still had a ways to go before she could consider it _love._ So instead, she pulled Yukari into a hug. “Honestly, you are the stupidest person I have ever met.”

The eccentric teen beamed and held Minamo tighter. “Says the person almost failing English…”

“Shut up.”


	28. Osaka versus ABBA

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Everybody screamed when I kissed the teacher"~ ABBA

Osaka strolled into class with a content smile on her face. She noticed her friends had all congregated around Yomi and Chiyo’s desks, so she went to join them.

“So then, the dragon threw me out into this large field where this lawnmower tried to run me over! It was so weird! I was running around, that armor was heavy! And the lawnmower is cutting the grass while the dragon is chuckling to itself in the castle. I’m pretty sure Yomi had fallen back asleep-“

“What’re y’all talking about?” Osaka asked

Chiyo waved, “Good morning, Miss Osaka!”

Everyone said a collective good morning except Tomo, who explained, “I was telling them about this really weird dream I had last night.”

The spacey teen suddenly looked disturbed. A dark shadow covered her face as she hung her head.

Tomo backed up, afraid. Yomi, Chiyo and Sakaki sweatdropped.

“What’s wrong, Osaka?” Kagura asked in a shaky voice.

“Ah watched this really weird movie last night…” Osaka announced in her slow drawl.

“Oh yeah?” Tomo blinked, relaxing. “What about?”

“It was mah brother’s movie. Ah found it under his bed when I was tryin’ ta hide from mah dog.”

“… Under his bed?” Chiyo asked before looking up at Yomi.

Her friends looked slightly more interested in the story. There were faint blushes tinting their cheeks.

“Yeah. ‘Nd it was one of them pervert movies, Ah figured out as Ah watched it.”

“You actually watched it?!” Kagura’s voice cracked slightly. She moved closer to Tomo to lean against her and waited to hear the rest of the story.

“Not fa’ long ‘cause it was weird.” Osaka shook her head as if she were trying to forget what she watched, “Tha kid had a huge crush on his teacher er somethin’. As soon as they started makin’ out ‘nd stuff in front of tha class, Ah turned it off.”

The group let out a collective sigh of relief, except Chiyo who was still confused. Yomi fixed her glasses and with her face still aflame she asked, “Why does your brother have a movie like that just lying around?”

“Ah dunno.”

Tomo nodded, “You’re right, Osaka. That sounds weird.”

Everyone collectively nodded.

“Ah wonder what it’s like ta kiss a teacher…”

Kagura’s face burned bright, but no one noticed. They were too busy staring at Osaka in horror.

\--

Yukari hurled her chalk down, making all her students recoil in their seats. All except for the snoozing Osaka.

“Please, don’t.” Yomi whispered as Yukari stormed over to her friend’s desk to wake up the teen.

“Sleeping beauty…” The English teacher said lightly before slamming her textbook on Osaka’s desk, “Wake up!”

Osaka mumbled something but did not stir.

“Oh shit,” Tomo cursed when Yukari leaned closer to her snoozing friend.

“What was that Osaka?”

“Oh shit.” Kagura agreed.

“W-Wait! Miss Yukari!”

Chiyo was too late.

Quick as lightening, faster than anyone had ever seen the Osakan move, the spacey teen lashed out her hand to grab the back of Yukari’s neck. Hastily, she planted her lips on the stunned English teacher.

There was a moment tense silence.

Then Yukari forced herself away from Osaka. They stared at each other. Yukari looked completely horrified. Her expression matched that of her students’.

Osaka’s head then dropped to the desk with a loud ‘klunk’.

Everyone remained frozen until the spacey teen bolted awake.

“Aw man, guys! Ah just had the weirdest dream!” She yelled. Then she became aware that everyone was staring at her. “Uh, what’s goin’ on?”

Yukari turned her back on Osaka and resumed teaching. “English is a stupid language for many reasons, but especially because-“

Osaka turned and gave Kagura a questioning look. The athletic teen had yet to pick up her jaw from the floor.

\--

“OSAKA, I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU KISSED YUKARI!” Tomo yelled as soon as their teacher left the room.

The whole class was in an uproar.

“You’re so lucky!”

“ _Why on EARTH would you_ -“

“Do you think I could pull the same thing off with-“

Osaka hid underneath her arms, confused and scared as to why all her classmates were yelling at her for something she did in her dream.


	29. Kagura versus Yomi- seeking advice

“Yomi-chan…” Kagura approached the taller teen’s desk, looking rather embarrassed. “Can I talk to you about something sorta important?”

“Yeah, of course.” Yomi clasped her hands together on her desk. Resting into her chair she asked, “What’s wrong?”

The athletic teen sat in the chair in front of her desk and leaned across it to close some distance, “I, well… Can you keep a secret?”

“A secret?” Yomi grinned, “Yeah, I won’t tell anyone.”

Kagura smiled back but hesitated. She pulled at the end of one of her sleeves as she tried to muster up some courage. “Okay... Um…” Her face burned hotter than when she got sunburned at the pool, “I… Kinda like Tomo.”

Yomi paled. “Say what?”

Kagura smiled at her friend, who no doubt thought she was an idiot for falling in love with _Tomo._ But Yomi knew Tomo better than anyone, which is why the swimmer had gone to her in the first place. Surely, the bespectacled teen would know if she had a chance.

“I know that she’s a dumbass. She’s loud and annoying, but… We have so much in common and she’s so much fun to hang out with, you know?” Kagura sighed and looked up at the quiet teen, “What do I do, Yomi?”

Yomi eyed the athletic teen with her glasses glaring, “Maybe you should go ask Chiyo-chan.”

“Uh, okay.” Kagura stood from the chair and gave her friend a questioning look. She shrugged off the weirdness, deciding to just do as Yomi suggested.

\--

“But Miss Kagura!” Little Chiyo interrupted Kagura’s soliloquy about falling hard for Tomo. “Miss Yomi and Tomo-chan are in a relationship!”

“Oh shit!” Kagura slowly brought a hand up to hide her face. She glanced in Yomi’s direction and was terrified to see the taller teen glaring at her. “Woops.”


	30. Be My Savior and I'll Be Your Downfall- PAST YUKAMO DRAMA

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Full length fic for the final chapter xP

“Oh, Yukari.” Mrs. Kurosawa forced a smile as she opened the door for her daughter’s loudmouthed friend, “I didn’t know you studied.”

“<On occasion.>” She answered in English. “Plus Minamo yells at me when I get bad grades.”

The older woman stepped aside and let her enter. “She’s in her room.”

Yukari bit back a snarky comment. Minamo’s mother already hated her with a fiery passion, why make it worse? The eccentric teen slipped off her shoes and padded her way to her best friend’s bedroom.

“Hey Nyamo!” Yukari greeted loudly as she threw open the door.

From the table in the middle of her room, Minamo sighed. “Yukari. You’re late.”

“Eh, whatever.”

Sitting at the table were two other girls. One she recognized from English and another from her math class. “Hey Misaki-chan, Harumi-chan. Where’s Eiko-chan?”

“Eiko-san had to attend a business seminar with her father tonight.” Misaki said, not looking up from her English textbook. “Yukari-chan, can you explain this part of speech to me?”

“Yeah, yeah. Give me a sec.”

Yukari plopped down between Misaki and Minamo. “What are you studying Harumi-chan?”

“Minamo-san and I have a quiz in math Friday…” She sounded stressed.

“I don’t get math,” She waved her hand. “So good luck with that.”

Minamo rolled her eyes, “We’ll figure this out, right Harumi-chan?”

“Maybe.”

They laughed as Minamo sweatdropped.

Yukari stretched out under the table, letting her leg rest against Minamo’s. The teen glanced over, trying to hide a smile.

“So what did you need help with Misaki-chan?”

Not so subtly, Yukari slid her hand closer to Minamo’s. The tomboy didn’t move her hand away.

Harumi noticed how close they were sitting and mentally added it to the list of reasons why she suspected they were together. She smirked to herself and shot a look at Misaki, hoping the other teen would look over.

“Oh yeah, you’re doing it right! Sorta!” Yukari took her friend’s pencil and began jotting down some examples, “See?”

Misaki nodded slowly.

Minamo turned back to Harumi and noticed the look on her face. The knowing smile quickly dissolved as she ducked her head back towards the textbook.

“What’s wrong, Harumi-chan?”

“Nothing!” She said in a sing-song voice.

That grabbed Yukari’s attention. “Are you planning something, Harumi-chan?”

The teen shook her head and winked at Misaki, who had leaned over the table confused as to what was going on. “It’s nothing.”

Misaki raised an eyebrow at her friend. Harumi’s eyes flicked down at Minamo and Yukari’s almost joined hands. Realization dawned on the more studious teen.

Yukari didn’t buy it for a second. “Uh huh…” She crossed her arms over her chest, “Harumi-chan…”

“It’s nothing, really.” Misaki bit back a giggle.

Minamo looked thoroughly confused. Yukari glared at her classmate until she cracked.

“Okay… Well.” Harumi rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. “Misaki (Hey!) and I were wondering… Are you two, uh, dating?”

Instantly, Minamo’s face was aflame. “W-What?”

Yukari stayed silent.

“You two are just so close…” Misaki said meekly. “We assumed-“

“N-No! No!” Minamo laughed, “We-We’re not together. Just best friends,”

“That’s what I kept telling her!” The air felt awkward. Misaki laughed shortly, “But she kept reading into it.”

Harumi pouted, “Don’t blame it all on me.”

Minamo forced a smile, “We’ve been best friends since last year.”

“Yep!” Yukari said. Under the table, she moved her leg away from Minamo’s. “We’ve been through a lot.”

Misaki tapped her pencil against her textbook. “That’s like me and Mrs. Science over there…”

“We’ve been together since middle school though,” Harumi grinned.

Minamo half-listened to them banter about how they met and who was smarter at what. She sat hunched over, inwardly fretting. She _knew_ this would happen. There was not a way to keep secrets from anyone. If her close friends found out, they would tell. Their status would fly through the school at the speed of light…

The tomboy bit her lip to keep from making a noise. Her mind raced through all the possibilities. The whole school would find out, people would look at them weird (well, weirder than they already did). The _principal_ might find out. He was old time friends with her mom… If her mom found out-

_Game over._

As Yukari would say.

Drowning in an imaginative scenario, Minamo returned to reality.  “Maybe we should get back to studying,” she suggested, her voice sounded hollow.

The others reluctantly agreed.

\--

Harumi and Misaki left not long after the clock struck six. They had been mostly productive; more than once Yukari complained about the lack of snacks but they easily ignored her. Minamo felt more confident in her calculus skills now that Harumi and her had managed to crack the equation. Sighing, the tomboy closed her textbook and fell back onto the carpet.

Yukari laid down beside her, propping her head up in her hand. She leaned over her exhausted friend.

“We’ve almost been together a year Minamo…” Yukari said with a tight smile.

“A year?” Minamo blew out a breath,

Yukari frowned. That wasn’t the response she expected or wanted. “And we still haven’t told anyone…”

“Your parents know.” Their eyes met. Minamo could see that wasn’t a good enough answer.

She repressed the urge to roll her eyes. “My parents know everything.”

“I love your parents,” She said with a laugh. The tomboy moved an arm to rest under her head.

“Yeah.” Yukari moved closer, “Nyamo?”

Minamo felt her cheeks heat up, “Y-Yeah?”

“Can’t we tell Harumi-chan and-“

“No.”

The brown haired teen huffed and fell away. “No?”

“I don’t want this to get out.”

Yukari’s eyes narrowed. _This_. _Us._ “Okay, nevermind.”

Minamo turned her head to look at her girlfriend. Yukari looked pissed. With a sigh, she returned her attention to her ceiling. She didn’t know what to say, so she kept quiet. Her own worries about telling people soon overcame her need to calm down the teen beside her.

Yukari squeezed her eyes shut. She inwardly begged and pleaded with whatever god that would listen. _Make her say something._

Her prayers went unanswered for nearly thirty minutes.

“Are you going to stay for dinner?”

“I shouldn’t.” Yukari rolled over. She snaked an arm across Minamo’s stomach and rested her cheek against her shoulder.

Minamo shifted, “My mom could walk in any minute.”

The eccentric teen sighed and retracted her arm. “Seriously, Minamo?”

“You know how my mom would react.”

Yukari pulled away and sat up. “Yeah, yeah.” She threw her study materials in her bag, “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

Minamo sat up, planning to walk her to the door.

“You don’t have to get up,” Yukari shouldered her bag.

“See you, Yukari…”

With a small smile, she exited Minamo’s room closing the door behind her.

\--

Minamo sat sideways in her seat, talking to another girl on the track team. The upcoming meet was against their rivals, who didn’t have good odds to win.

“Yeah, I heard their star athlete had an injury.”

Minamo sucked in a breath, “I couldn’t imagine-“

She paused at the sound of the classroom door being opened violently. She turned and was somewhat surprised to see Yukari. She looked crazier than usual. Everyone in the classroom had turned their attention to her. However, most were used to the weird teen visiting their homeroom so the class quickly went back to what they were doing. Out of breath and holding a poorly wrapped present in her hand, her girlfriend made her way to Minamo’s desk.

“Yo, Nyamo!” Yukari flipped her long brown hair over her shoulder in an attempt to save face from her less than graceful entrance. She glanced at the clock and grinned, “I’m early for once!”

Minamo moved her arm off the desk as Yukari took a seat on top of it. The tomboy felt her ears burn. She could tell some of her peers were watching them out of the corner of their eyes. Her team mate she was talking to before had turned around to give them privacy; still, she shot Minamo a questioning glance.

“Yukari, could you not?”

The eccentric teen’s smile faltered slightly. She held out a horrendously wrapped present with a small note on top of the box. Minamo took the present, smiling at the obvious effort her girlfriend had gone through.

“I’m not really good at all this sappy stuff,”

Minamo’s heart nearly stopped when Hiroki, who sat to her left, looked over at them. His eyes were wide and head tilted in confusion. Never in a million years did Minamo think Yukari would actually remember the date. Now that Yukari was making a scene in front of her homeroom classmates, she wished the goofy teen _hadn’t_ remembered,

“Why do you look so confused? It’s for our one year-“

“ _Would you please just shut up?”_

Yukari recoiled; mostly shocked at Minamo’s outburst. Her tomboy had her head down and was completely red in the face. _Why does she care so much what people think?_ Yukari looked around, staring down those who were looking at them strangely until they turned away.

The brown haired teen turned her attention back to Minamo once their audience was dealt with. “These punks need to mind their own business.”

“Y-Yukari, shouldn’t you be going to your own homeroom?”

Minamo wouldn’t meet her eyes, so Yukari huffed out a breath. “Guess so.”

Yukari hopped off her desk and strolled out of the room. As soon as the door closed, all eyes turned back to Minamo. She slid down in her chair, wishing that she could disappear. She stared at the note on top of the present, debating on whether she should read it now or on her lunch break.

Hiroki tapped a finger on her desk to get her attention. “Kurosawa,” He raised an eyebrow, “Are you two… you know, together?”

The tomboy shook her head, “N-No!”

He nodded but didn’t look convinced. “I think it’s kinda hot if you are,” He grinned.

“We’re not!”

“But…” He frowned as confusion set in, “You look like you’d be yuri.”

“E-Excuse me?” Minamo’s face burned. She thanked Kami when the teacher walked through the door, effectively halting his harassment.

\--

“So did you like your present?” Yukari asked with a grin before math class started.

Minamo pouted, “Yukari… You could’ve waited until later today instead of giving it to me at school.”

“What’s the big deal Nyamo?”

“People are talking again,” The black haired teen sighed, “I just don’t want them to get the wrong idea.”

_The wrong idea?_ Yukari crossed her arms over her chest, “Oh yeah?”

“That’s not what I-“ Minamo sighed, “Can we talk about this later?”

Yukari shrugged, “Yeah, whatever.”

They sat in silence for a moment before Yukari gasped. Her eyes went wide and she slammed a hand on Minamo’s desk, “My anime comes on tonight!” She grinned, “I’ve been waiting for the season premier since, like, December.”

“You mean that weird yaoi anime?”

The eccentric teen narrowed her eyes, “How dare you. _It’s not weird_ , you uncultured hag.”

She then launched into a vague summary of what this upcoming season _might_ be about and who she suspected will get together again and who would break up. Minamo tried her best to understand, but gave up and just listened to her blather on.

“…And so I figured to get all pumped for the episode I oughta go home right after school. I’ll pick up some fast food-“

Minamo perked up, “Wait,” She frowned slightly, “We’re not doing anything tonight?”

“ _I’ve been waiting months for this stupid show to come back on.”_ Yukari hissed

“Okay, okay!” She held up her hands in surrender.

The teacher entered the classroom and threw her books on the front desk, “Return to your seats, pupils. Today we’re going to cover-“

Yukari got up from the desk she was occupying and crossed the room. Minamo kept her eyes on her. She was disappointed that they wouldn’t be spending the day together. Yukari had even ditched their tradition to walk her home after swim practice.

Briefly, she wondered if her girlfriend was mad at her for earlier. But then again, this was just like her. Minamo sighed and wished Yukari wouldn’t take her animes and video games so seriously. Even so, she smiled fondly at the teen across the room. As cheesy as it sounded, no one could compare to her hilarious and crazy girlfriend.

\--

Minamo sat with her legs crossed on her bed. The phone, as always, was on her nightstand. She didn’t know whether she should try to call that night. Yukari would no doubt be busy _watching that_ _anime_ _on their one year anniversary night,_ which was completely ridiculous and slightly insulting. Although they had no special plans for tonight, Yukari seemed much less excited about today compared to this morning.

_We should talk about that._ She reached for the phone and quickly dialed Yukari’s number. After the fourth ring, Minamo finally got an answer.

“Moshi moshi?”

She easily recognized the voice. “Good evening, Mrs. Tankizaki,”

“Minamo-chan! How are you?”

“I’m doing well.” She paused, “Um, has Yukari finished watching her show?”

There was a bit of rustling on the other end of the phone. “Kari-chan!”

The athletic picked at her covers, smiling as she listened to Yukari’s mother yell at her daughter from across the house. Once the noise died down, Minamo pressed the phone closer to her ear.

“Mrs. Tanizaki?”

The woman on the other side sighed, “She’s in the middle of rewatching the episode for the third time.”

Minamo smiled sadly, “Okay. Can you ask her when she wants her present?”

“Of course, dear.”

There was more yelling.

“Minamo, she said tomorrow at school will be fine.”

_Yukari…_ “Okay, I’ll talk to you later Mrs. Tanizaki!”

“Take care, dear!”

Minamo pressed the end call button and placed the phone beside her. “Why are you so difficult, Yukari?” She pulled her legs up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs.

“ _People asked about us again._ ” She groaned as she talked to herself. “I-I can’t.”

There was two sharp knocks on her door. “Minamo,” Her mother’s voice made her flinch, “Your father and I would like to have a talk with you.”

Her heart was beating out of her chest. “O-Okay.”

She stood on shaky feet and mentally prepared herself for whatever was about to happen. She had no idea what the chat was going to be about, but she prayed it wasn’t about Yukari or school.

  * The Next Day



“What are _you_ so angry about?” Minamo asked, bumping her shoulder into her friend.

Yukari didn’t even crack a smile. She stepped away from her friend.  “I’m not angry.”

The athletic teen raised an eyebrow. As she opened the door to the school’s main hallway, she asked “Is that so?”

“Yep.”

Minamo frowned. “So you aren’t going to tell me so I can fix it?”

“Nope.”

“Yukari…”

The brown haired teen huffed. “Geez Nyamo, lay off.”

“Fine.”

Their footsteps echoed in the mostly empty hallway. The students of the “go home club” were already long gone. Those left were either part of an academic or athletic club… Minamo waved at some of her swim team members, but didn’t stop to chat since Yukari was acting so frosty.

“Is this about yesterday?” Minamo asked, trying to figure out what her problem was. “Or this morning? I’ve got your present at home…”

“Yukari groaned. “I thought you were gonna drop it.”

“I’ve had to deal with your attitude all day, I don’t want to anymore.”

“Then don’t.” Yukari’s voice was tense. “I’m going to the library,”

Despite quickening her pace, Yukari couldn’t lose her friend. Minamo easily matched her pace.

“Are you going to wait for me after swim practice?”

“I’ve gotta go home soon, it’s my night to cook dinner.”

Minamo sighed. “We didn’t get to walk together yesterday either…”

The disappointment Minamo felt oozed into every word. Yukari felt her heart clench painfully. _How dare_ Minamo make her feel guilty. It was _her_ damn fault she felt so betrayed. She tried to reign in how frustrated she felt.

“Maybe tomorrow,” Yukari opened the door to the stairwell with more force than necessary. It hit the wall with a loud clang. She waved over her shoulder, “See you.”

The door thudded close not long after. Minamo wanted to chase after her, shake some sense into her and ask what was wrong. The muffled giggles from her peers stopped her. She let out an angry breath and turned around to go back to the pool.

\--

Yukari sighed from her place sitting on the countertop in the kitchen. Her legs kicked against the counter’s drawers. She had been watching her mother cook for the better part of ten minutes, completely silent.

“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”

She sighed again. “I think I messed up, Mom.”

Her mother continued to stir the curry they would be having that night. “What’d you do this time?”

“I kinda fought with her…”

“Why?” She asked

Yukari put her hands in her lap and hunched over herself. “She was acting worse than yesterday. I try to remember she loves me, but when she pretends we’re nothing more than friends at school…”

“So you’re going to call her and work it out, right?”

“It’s not my night to call,”

Her mother walked across the kitchen to the calendar hanging on the wall. She took it off the hook and smacked her daughter with it. “Yes it is! Isn’t Thursday your night?”

“… Maybe.”

“Call her then.”

Yukari huffed, “Mom, you’re not much help.”

“What did you want me to do? Tell you that you’re right?”

“Kinda.”

Her mother rolled her eyes and leaned against the counter top on the other side of the kitchen. She smiled ruefully at how upset her daughter looked, “Well, Yukari-chan, you’re kinda right.”

Yukari almost tossed the calendar at her.

\--

“What’s wrong, Minamo?”

The athletic teen looked up from her untouched food, “Nothing, Mom.”

“Is this about the talk we had yesterday?” Her mother’s eyes narrowed, “Because I don’t think we’re asking too much of you.”

Her father nodded and cleared his throat. “When I was your age, I wasn’t allowed to go out with friends. My life revolved around track and studying.”

“If you can’t keep your grades up, you won’t be able to get into the medical field.”

“I know, Mom…” Minamo’s eyes fell back to her plate. She had argued with them yesterday about her career choice. They thought she was insane to choose sports over a promising job in a hospital or research facility like them. “It’s-It’s not that.”

She glanced up and noticed how narrow her mother’s eyes were. Her heart raced as her mother studied her.

“If you’re fighting with that Tanizaki girl, it’s best just to forget about her.”

“Why would you way that, Mom?”

“She’s a bad influence, Minamo.”

Minamo repressed a sigh, “Yes, Mom.”

\--

Everything was different today. The air around them, the way they talked to each other… Yukari hadn’t reached out to touch her all day.

Minamo was surprised when she walked out of swim practice and her girlfriend was waiting on her. She jogged over to the bench where Yukari sat in the sun, head tilted up and soaking in the rays.

“Yukari…”

“Hey, Nyamo.”  Yukari tried to smile, despite the heartbreak she was fighting. “How was practice?”

Minamo shrugged, “Coach is preparing us for nationals, so it’s getting rough.”

Yukari stood from the bench, stretching her arms above her head. “Oh yeah, I forgot you placed.”

The two teens began walking towards the school gates. Minamo’s teammates chatted eagerly behind them, filling the silence that had fallen over the two. Yukari knew something had to be done today, but she really wished it would end well. As the turned the corner to walk towards Minamo’s neighborhood, she rubbed her eyes tiredly.

“Yukari, what’s wrong?”

“Minamo…” The brown haired teen groaned, “I love you.”

Minamo worriedly glanced behind them and was relieved to see no one following them. “I-I love you too.”

“But I give up.”

The athletic teen stopped walking. “What?”

Yukari was winded from the wounded look on Minamo’s face. She had to stare out into the street instead. “I’ve always felt we’re as close to soulmates as two people can get.” She laughed lowly, “But if we keep going like this, we’re not gonna make it.”

Minamo understood, but it still pained her. “Yukari…”

The other teen blew out a breath. She looked up to the sky, blinking rapidly. “Let’s just be friends, Nyamo.”

Minamo was on the edge of tears herself. Her life was crashing down around her all at once. Her parent’s expectations, her grades, now Yukari… “If-If that’s what you want.”

Yukari hoped she would’ve put up a fight. Minamo was just going to let it happen… It broke her heart even more. _Fight for me._ “It’s for the best,” She said, trying to assure herself more than Minamo.

“I-I’ll walk home alone from here…” Minamo’s voice broke along with her heart.

When Yukari mustered up the courage to look at Minamo, it took everything in her not to scream out. The person she cared for most looked so beaten and defeated. “See you tomorrow.”

Yukari took off running in the opposite direction as a tear slid down her face. _I don’t want to give up. I don’t want this to end._

Minamo didn’t turn around to watch Yukari run away; instead she forced back her emotions as she walked home. _She’ll still be your friend._

After sprinting a couple blocks, Yukari slowed to a walk. Sweat mixed with tears as she tried to get enough air into her lungs. Her emotional rampage had made her omit the fact that she was in no way athletic. As she tried to recover, she felt overwhelmed by how much she ached; emotionally and physically.

The black haired teen greeted her parents as she always did. Her mother sternly instructed her to finish any and all homework and that dinner would be ready at eight. Minamo acted perfectly normal. It wasn’t until she reached the safety of her bedroom that she let herself fall apart.

\--

_It’s not forever… We just need some time off. Eventually people will stop asking about us and that’s when we’ll get back together._

_\--_

As Tomo eavesdropped on her favorite teachers, she was struck with an epiphany. “Kagura… I think they’re lovers or something.”

“W-What?!” Kagura’s face went read.

“I’m gonna ask!”

The hyper teen rounded the corner, Kagura following close trying to stop her. “Numbnuts! You can’t just-“

Yukari stopped talking to Minamo and turned to her students, “Yo. What are you brats doing?”

“Don’t call them that,” Minamo said with a tired sigh.

“Whatever,” Yukari laughed, “So what do you two want?

“So you two went to high school together, right?” Tomo asked eagerly,

Minamo nodded, “Yes.”

“How about college?”

“Yep,” Yukari smirked.

“And then got a job at the same place?”

The English teacher sighed, “Yeah, so?”

Tomo narrowed her eyes. The two teachers gave her a weird look, so she shrugged. “You two are together, aren’t you?”

Kagura studied her coach, who bit her lip and looked away. Somehow, it seemed as much of a confession as Yukari’s words.

“Who cares? It’s none of your business!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... so... there ya go... *jazz hands while walking away slowly*


End file.
